Predicting the New York Yankees’ Next “Core Four”

May 24, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees former players (L-R) Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, and Derek Jeter pose for a photo during the ceremony retiring Williams number 51 prior to the game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Four Baby Bombers in this next wave of New York Yankees prospects will inevitably be dubbed the new Core Four. Who from the stacked farm system will earn the moniker?

In a recent episode of the Baseball America podcast, Josh Norris, who recently compiled BA’s 2017 New York Yankees Top Ten Prospects (subscription required), suggested that all 10 Baby Bombers on the list have a case to be in the site’s annual Top 100 rankings next spring.

While that is unlikely to happen, the fact that all 10 names are at least worthy of consideration reveals just how stacked the organization is with legitimate blue-chip talents at the moment. This upcoming wave of prospects has a strong case for being the best in Yankees history.

The gold standard of New York prospect classes in the modern era is the 1995 group that served as the foundation of the late 1990’s dynasty that won four championships in five years and also was integral to the 2009 championship nearly a decade after that.

In 1995, the Yankees had five prospects named in Baseball America’s Top 100 list plus several more big names who just missed out. Ruben Rivera and Derek Jeter were both among the top five prospects in all of baseball, while Andy Pettitte, Russ Davis, and Matt Drews also made the Top 100 that year.

Other notable guys on New York’s top 10 prospect list include the other two members of the Core Four, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, who were seventh and ninth respectively. Brien Taylor, who had one of the more tragic Yankees careers in recent memory, also made the list.

It is an inescapable fact that whichever four players from this new class of Baby Bombers establish themselves as key contributors to the club first will be known as the next “Core Four.” Let’s try and get out ahead of it and predict which four Yankees youngsters will be a member of the new “Core Four” over the next decade.

(Spoiler alert: Clint Frazier is Bernie and gets ignored despite being one of the most talented guys in the system.)

Four Baby Bombers in this next wave of New York Yankees prospects will inevitably be dubbed the new Core Four. Who from the stacked farm system will earn the moniker?

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